With a population of more than 800, the village of Selawik is among the larger of local villages. It is located just above the Arctic Circle about 75 miles inland from the Chuchi Sea. 

     Adventists have a history of church work among the Inupiats of northwest Alaska since the late 1930s.  However due to the lack of continuity in our ministry, and other reasons, few local leaders have been cultivated over the years. Several factors are beginning to change that.

     Warren and Verity Downs with their three daughters just finished their second year as village church leaders in Selawik. Answering God’s call to native ministry, the Downs family lives in Selawik on a faith-based/tent-making arrangement where their ministry is supported in part by what they can earn by computer programming, with the difference made up by contributions from supporters.

    The presence of an AWA aircraft that generates revenue working for Northwestern Aviation Services in Kotzebue when not on mission runs is making it possible for AWA Project Manager, Jim Kincaid to visit the Selawik Church every four to six weeks to offer pastoral support.